


Electric Love Is in the Air (I Think Someone Is Playing with Wires)

by Hamon_Frog



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Domestic Fluff, Everyone Falls in Love with Everyone, F/F, Just So Much Poly, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:55:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hamon_Frog/pseuds/Hamon_Frog
Summary: The house that Pearl is renting is now empty. She manages to fill it with her newfound roommates Amethyst, Lapis Lazuli, and Peridot. They're all different, no one wants to do dishes, laundry piles get mixed with one another, but despite their troubles they all care for each other. Maybe even more than they know.
Relationships: Amethyst/Lapis Lazuli/Pearl/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Pearl gave her final wave to the small car that carried away what used to be her roommates. There had luckily been no complications in the housing arrangement, Ruby and Sapphire were simply ready to move on from renting and were now about to take on their own mortgage. Pearl felt her eyes sting, partially from her excitement for the couple and partially due to her having no idea what she was going to do now. Her roommates had always been there with her, through thick and thin. Now she was left with their vast house all to herself, which included the steep rent. Although the thought of such wrung her mind with anxiety, she had come up with a plan that would solve this complication. She would post0 an application, to which those who met the criteria would undergo a screening process through an interview to assess if they were a suitable candidate as a roommate. This was all feasible to do within a month, Pearl had even done the research of how quickly a roommate had been found for other properties near her area. She was fully prepared and there was a glee brought about by such a perfect plan, Pearl had a lightness to her step, that was until a looming presence stalked behind her.

"Mrs. Diamond." Pearl muttered before turning around to face the piercing eyes of her landlord.

"Pearl." The towering woman's hair was spiked to be as sharp as her words. "Money is quite tight as you know. So I'm going to be collecting rent on the fourteenth of this month."

"Wha- You can't-" Pearl's words hadn't even managed to construct themselves before Mrs. Diamond had raised a silencing hand.

"Hush. Make sure I have my money by then. I will see you then." With a flick of her nose upward, Mrs. Diamond was gone back to where she had once come.

Ugh, what a bitch. Pearl had wanted to tell her off for ages, but she loved the house she had gotten, and admittedly, the facilities had been well taken care of. Pearl unwrinkled her nose, she knew it wasn't a fight worth fighting, but it meant that there would need to be a resortment of desperate measures to make rent in time. Which meant she needed roommates, and quickly.

First was putting out an ad, that was easy, but the time crunch required a more outgoing approach. This was out of Pearl's domain and she knew it, she had always been a homebody, so she turned to someone she knew that could help.

"Need a roommate, Pearl?" Sapphire had answered the phone before it had started to ring. In the background a greeting from Ruby was faintly heard.

"I... well, yes. I thought I could have escaped your expectations this time." The heat of embarrassment rushed to Pearl's face. She sat at her laptop, hastily scrolling for a decent person that needed a room, but as expected, there was not much luck in the endeavour.

"It's not a bad thing." Sapphire gave a small chuckle. "I heard that Amethyst is looking for a roommate. It is a weekend, you could probably find her at the concert tonight."

"You mean that rowdy girl? I don't know, she seems a bit… messy." Pearl bit at her lip. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all. Maybe if she cut out the interviews she could still keep on track, that way she could avoid the mess of going to a concert.

"Do you have the time to nitpick right now?" Sapphire spoke honestly, there was no intent to be condescending, and Pearl had learned this from many years of living with her. It was a question that Pearl had been asked time and time again, it kept her focus where it needed to be, and even if it made her grind her teeth every time she had heard it, she appreciated that they were looking out for her.

"No." Pearl sighed. "Thank you for the help."

"Anytime."

Pearl put down her phone, refreshing the page, only to still have no responses on it. She changed the tab to look up what time the concert was going to be, midnight. She couldn't help but let out a groan. Who would willingly want to be out that late? Another negative added to Pearl's mental note of her possibly soon to be roommate. A cup of coffee soon found its way into Pearl's hands as she prepared for her late night of overstimulation.

The band playing was called 'Sadie Killer and The Suspects' Pearl had only heard of them in passing, but became quickly aware it was their concert due to the plaster of posters and merch littered around. Pearl couldn't wrap her head around how people managed to enjoy the overbearing music, let alone dance to it, if you could call that dancing. She had already started to feel a headache come on as she pushed through the crowd, searching for a girl resembling the old picture that Ruby had sent. The three had apparently been friends from work back when Ruby was a bartender. It was difficult to differentiate one person from another in the crowd, and the lavender hair that Amethyst had normally would have made her stick out, the strobe lights managed to have made that a moot point. Pearl was just about ready to go home and take an advil when she noticed a small clearing in the crowd, and at the centre of it was a short girl whipping her lengthy hair at maximum velocity. That's Amethyst all right.

"Amethyst… Amethyst!" Pearl hated raising her voice, but the situation called for it as any noise became oversaturated by the thunder of the crowd and the music from oversized speakers. The girl paused her thrashing and looked around, stunned, until Pearl had caught her attention, which wasn't too difficult considering how out of place she looked at this venue. "Ruby told me you're looking for a place to stay?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! Why, you got somethin' for me?" Despite her previous action, Amethyst had barely broken a sweat, and her energy was still seemingly oozing out.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Would you like to come see it?"

"Yeah, let's go! This is the last song anyways."

"I- You want to look at it right now? It's almost one in the morning!"

"Yeah, why not." Amethyst shrugged. "Can we stop and grab some food on the way? I'm starving."

Pearl would have walked away in response to such an outrageous proposition had she not been in such dire circumstances. The faster she could get a roommate the better. She pinched the bridge of her nose and made her way back to her car, Amethyst following closely behind. Luckily the mixture of the earlier coffee and focus on the road had kept Pearl's heavy eyelids open, though pulling into the first drive-thru had made her wish she had said no to the pitstop. She let Amethyst order for herself, there was no way she was going to touch any of that junk food.

"So how big is this place anyway?" Amethyst asked while she ruffled through her bag, in search of a wallet. She was not as quaint with silence as Pearl was, trying to fill it throughout their trip, much to Pearl's dismay.

"It has three bedrooms, but you could probably fit four people if one slept on the couch." They had found that even with the original three, there was plenty of space leftover, which Pearl had savoured for many years. There was going to be an adjustment period she acquiesced, but it could only be expected, in the back of her mind she had known she was never going to find anyone as perfect as Ruby and Sapphire.

"Dibs on the couch." Well that was one problem solved. As they spoke a girl with messy, dyed blue hair handed them the food. "Ay Lapis!"

"Well if it isn't my least favorite customer." The girl said unamused, yet with a smile on her face. Her gaze shifted over to Pearl. "Your new girlfriend? She doesn't seem like your type."

"My new roommate actually."

"We aren't roommates yet." Pearl interjected, her palms whitening against the steering wheel.

"Speaking of which, you still need a place right, Lap?" Amethyst and Lapis were basically ignoring Pearl at this point, which may have been for the best, considering how close she was to having a meltdown. 

"Yep, that other girl bailed out on me. Can't say I didn't expect it." 

"What time are you getting off?"

"In about five minutes." Pearl checked the clock herself, it was nearly one thirty now. She was running off the last of her coffee, but it would be enough to get them home.

"Come on in then." Amethyst called, leaning back to roll down the rear window.

"All right." Lapis climbed out of the store's window and into the car, turning back to shout at the other person in the store. "Clock me out, Jas!"

Pearl was too tired to cause a fuss, she just wanted this night to be over, keeping herself going with thoughts of paid bills.

"Is that even allowed?" Amethyst laughed heartily. The two seemed familiar with each other, but only in the sense of frequent but short meetings through necessity, that of Amethyst wanting fast food, and Lapis doing her job.

"Probably not." Lapis shrugged.

Pearl could never have expected this was what she was going to get into. She tried to reason that it was just a temporary setback, they'd probably leave in a few months and she could ensure more stable roommates. But now she was home, all her worries were washed away at the anticipation of being met by her bed. As much as her blood was boiling, her exhaustion ruled over her. She had entered the home and immediately collapsed onto the mattress, not even bothering to change into her sleepwear.

"So, uh, should we take a look around?" Lapis asked, peering into the room.

"Just stay the night…" Pearl had murmured something else that was incomprehensible, so the new duo made themselves at home and found a place to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to branch out with my characters a bit, so I apologise if any of them seem off or odd. This will be my first time actually writing Pearl and giving a much larger role to Amethyst so there may come certain chapters that are focused on developing that, and it'll likely mean that the gap inbetween updates will be larger. But overall this will probably just end up being a short little quartet fic, which I hope is enjoyable :)


	2. Chapter 2

Buzzing was the first thing Pearl heard when she woke up. Her phone was lit up by a response to the ad she had posted the night before. Groggily, she swiped round on the phone, giving a moment to have her eyes adjust to screen.

'Greetings. I am looking for somewhere to live and this seems to be a desirable location. Perhaps we can arrange a beneficial agreement?'

The screen name read out as Peridot. Pearl huffed, just what she needed, more people to deal with. She felt a pain in her temple, remembering she had two strangers sleeping in her house. The dreariness of exhaustion had muddled her brain and the consequences laid just past her bedroom door. But delaying the inevitable would just make things worse, perhaps if they were to commit a heinous act she could at least try and catch them red handed. Pearl trudged out the door, Amethyst was quickly found, her hair spooling off the couch, snoring loud enough to startle a small animal. One down, next to find was Lapis, who could've either slept in the guest room or Ruby and Sapphire's room. She gritted her teeth at the thought of even a corner of the sheets being tucked improperly in their room. Luckily, Lapis had avoided that room due to how cosy it had seemed, she enjoyed the uninhabitable, made apparent as she was found nearly halfway off the bed, arm and head hanging off the side of a mattress that could easily fit someone twice her size. Pearl let out a sigh, despite her night she could at least be happy that her previous roommates bed had been saved for another night. Now came the issue of how to wake these two up. They both seemed to sleep like logs, not noticing Pearl's heavy pacing throughout the house. She didn't want to throw them out either, she felt she should be hospitable, as she was the one who invited them, and they were potential roommates, meaning she had to treat them with some amount of respect. Fresh cups of coffee had been made, which gave Pearl an excuse to call out to her newfound guests to speak with them. Amethyst was first to the table, downing her coffee in an instant. Lapis sauntered and took small sips, yet clung onto the mug for dear life, as most overnight workers tended to do. 

"The place is great, P. I slept like a baby." Amethyst exclaimed between gulps of coffee, to which Pearl carefully eyed to ensure there were no spills. Lapis silently nodded her head in agreement.

"I'm glad you like it. You can move in as soon as you'd like… maybe after you've had a shower though." Pearl muttered her last statement. Lapis was unphased by the words as the smell of fry grease had been a common odor of hers and she wasn’t about to give up the only thing that paid her to get rid of it.

The two guests finished their second coffee and made their way back to their own homes. Pearl let out a sigh, taking in the sweetness of solidarity before the next possible roommate made her way over. Dishes were cleaned and the beds were made, then Pearl sunk into her chair, taking in the small sounds that whirred from the fridge. It was one of the few sounds that had always been there to break the silence, that and Ruby and Sapphire’s muffled giggles from behind the walls of their bedroom. Although the couple was rarely around the house for long, Pearl had become accustomed to their gentle presence in the house, and despite her wishes to have been able to live alone, Pearl found herself missing the occupation of the large house by others. Now it seemed rather empty, it was missing the warmth that others had brought to it, the walls and tables were bare after Ruby and Sapphire had taken their decorations and posters. As the white noise was starting to become deafening, the doorbell rang, taking Pearl out of her introspective thoughts. Stood in front of the door was a short girl with large glasses.

“Hello.” The girl's voice was monotonous and nasally, yet held a professional tone that Pearl found respectable. “I’m looking for a miss… Pearl.”

“That’s me!” Pearl tried to at least appear uppity despite how exhausted she was.

“You aren’t what I expected, but nonetheless let’s commence the viewing.” The odd statement sparked a raised eyebrow from Pearl, but didn’t feel it warranted questioning. Mrs. Diamond had also mentioned how she was too plain looking for a name as elegant as Pearl, which to that old bag of bones might have actually been intended as a compliment.

This tour was much more of what Pearl was expecting. It came to her naturally, showing the qualities of the house that she had grown to love, large windows that let the light pour in during the mornings when she prepared for work, the kitchen that never felt crowded, the nooks and crannies that could be found in the bedrooms to store trinkets that the occupant found amusing. Pearl’s heart was heavy, yet swelling with pride, it felt wrong to try and convince someone that the place was worth paying for, because in her heart she knew that there was nowhere she’d rather be. Finishing the tour, Pearl turned to address Peridot, only to be taken aback by the large grin plastered on her face.

“I’ll take it. I’ll pay rent upfront if you need it. Whatever it takes to let me move in.” Peridot’s direct words were music to Pearl’s ears.

For the first time in the past twenty-four hours, Pearl felt at ease. She had done everything she needed to do, now it was up to everyone else to move in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a month went by far quicker than I had expected... But on the upside I feel like I'm starting to get out of this rut of writers block and self doubt. Anyways, back to the story at hand, the cast is fully assembled and now shenanigans can ensue! I am trying to be canon conscious in regards to I write Peridot and more specifically her dialogue, so I am hoping that it turns out alright :)


	3. Chapter 3

Amethyst was the first to arrive in the morning, likely due to most of her belongings fitting inside of a single box that she was able to stuff full within an hour.

“That’s all you have?” Pearl raised an eyebrow after peeking around the girl, expecting to see more boxes scattered somewhere around the lawn or deck.

“Yup.” Amethyst squeezed her way past Pearl into the house. The box was heavier than it looked, and she had no intentions of holding it for any longer than she needed to. She threw the box to the ground, which caused a loud thud to echo through the house.

“Please be careful, I don’t want the hardwood dented.” Pearl seethed. Her pent up frustration from the antics she had to deal with the past few days was starting to remove her normally cautious approach to confrontation.

“Chill, P. I’m sure it’ll buff out.” Amethyst rolled her eyes and started unpacking. Pearl muttered something that could only be assumed to be harsh words while stomping to her own room.

Amethyst was far from excited to live here, but considering the price and her budget, there was no way she could give it up. It wasn’t hard for her to figure out that Pearl was the kind of snob that made herself easy to hate. It reminded her of her previous bosses, always nitpicking the most insignificant details. Amethyst despised such a mindset, there were too many things that were a better use of her time. She could paint, sing, dance, laugh, things that actually made her happy, worrying just got in the way of what was actually important to her life. If there was one thing Amethyst was certain of, it was that she wasn’t going to allow Pearl to impede on her fun.

Amid Amethyst’s unpacking, Pearl made her way through the living room, keys in hand, and left without a word or even a glance towards the shorter girl's direction. Amethyst huffed, if Pearl wanted to be pissy about dropping a box, Amethyst was plenty ready to accept that. It wasn’t like she hadn’t already been acclimated to the silent treatment, it had been Vidalia’s go to method when Amethyst needed to reflect. Although she hated it, it was one of the few things that got Amethyst to shut her mouth and say sorry.

As time passed, Amethyst had managed to get to the bottom of her box, now placing her toiletries in the bathroom, the doorbell rang causing her to send her toothbrush and toothpaste flying. Amethyst wasn’t sure at first if she should answer it, but she figured that it was her house too now, so she might as well. She opened the door to a short girl with blonde hair.

“Er, I’m looking for Pearl.” Peridot cocked her head in confusion at the unknown person.

“She left.” Amethyst leaned against the door, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. “Whaddya need?”

“I was supposed to move in today.” Peridot’s voice had a tinge of panic that she had arrived at the wrong house, or had been scammed in some way.

“Looks like we’re roommates then.” Amethyst moved out of the doorway to allow the girl inside. “So Pearl roped you in too, huh?”

“Well, I could hardly pass up somewhere as decadent and functional as this. It will cut down the commute to my school by an entire fifteen minutes!”

Amethyst groaned, she sounded just like Pearl. Great, she was stuck in a house with two uptight dorks. She did have to admit she was happy to at least have Lapis with her, even if they didn’t know each other that well, it was someone that Amethyst could get along with, when she was around at least. Lapis tended to be a bit of a ghost, so Amethyst knew that her time would mostly be spent around the more apprehensive tenants. She figured there was no point trying to burn bridges yet, so she continued to play nice.

“You need some help carrying your stuff in? I’m assuming that your car is the one with the trunk wide open?” Amethyst laughed at the sight of the many boxes nearly falling out of the back of the SUV without the support of the trunk lid. The girl seemingly paid no attention and gave a small affirmation as the two began to unload the car loaded front to back with boxes on the brink of toppling. Maybe this girl wasn’t too bad, she was more reckless than Pearl was, even if it was seemingly from obliviousness, she still found it admirable.

Many boxes later, Peridot’s car was emptied and the two girls were now seated in the living room, surrounded by cardboard boxes and their foreheads dampened with sweat.

“Oh, I nearly forgot to formally introduce myself. My name is Peridot.”

“Amethyst. So anyways, what’s in all these boxes anyways?” Amethyst picked up a box, shifting it around like she was trying to figure out what was in her christmas present.

“Books for school, my computer, some consoles. Those sorts of things.” Peridot gestured to the respective boxes, most of them being identified by an incomprehensible sharpie scribble.

“What kind of consoles?” Amethyst perked up.

“Uh, I got some old nintendo ones, som-”

“Show them to me.” Amethyst demanded with a fervor Peridot hadn’t expected to come from rambling about her collection.

Peridot ripped the tape off of a box to reveal a strew of gaming systems that would be considered ancient by today’s standards. Amethyst knew what she wanted, she dug straight for the N64, pulling it and its associated wires out.

“We’re setting this up.” Amethyst had never been so intent on something in her life.

“Are you sure? Maybe we should ask Pearl first.”

“Screw Pearl. This was my childhood.” Peridot’s hesitancy never had a chance at stopping Amethyst’s desire for low res polygonal graphics.

It didn’t take long for Amethyst’s fiddling with wires to connect the console, to which she jumped onto the couch, with an invitation for Peridot to join her as she loaded up the games from her youth. Even with her worry, Peridot couldn't help but to begin reciting facts and details regarding the games, slowly drawing her in and washing her fear away. At least that was true until Pearl walked in, accompanied with Lapis. Pearl’s glare was icy when she saw what had occurred in her absence.

“Seriously, Amethyst? You couldn’t even wait to ask me before you messed with the TV?” Pearl hissed. She placed down some boxes as Lapis crept silently into the room, watching the drama unfold from the corner.

“C’mon P, you were gone for like two hours. It’s not hurting anybody.” Amethyst felt a rage building in her chest as she spoke.

“I’ve been gone for so long because I needed to wake up Lapis and help her pack!” Pearl made her way closer to Amethyst with each spite filled word. Amethyst stood up to defend herself, but couldn’t get a word in before Pearl continued her fury. “Ugh, I can’t with you. Not even one day here and you're causing problems already!”

Pearl was practically looming over Amethyst, giving a moment of silence to let her feel especially small underneath her stare before storming off to her room with a shake of her head.

“Psh, whatever.” Amethyst slunk onto the couch, burying herself into her phone.

Peridot gave a concerned look towards Lapis.

“Do you need some help unpacking?” Peridot squeaked. 

Lapis responded with a flick of her head towards her soon to be room. The two scurried off and closed the door behind them.

Amethyst had noticed the two bolt off as soon as they had a chance. She paid no mind to it, it wasn’t unusual for people to be uncomfortable with her actions. But unlike them, she had no room to retreat to, she was stuck on the couch in the wide open living room. She felt vulnerable, not vulnerable enough to go knocking on Lapis’ door to try to hide there, or make an apology to Pearl. Even if she had nothing beyond the walls of this house, she had no intent on giving up her pride. She dug in her heels and laid on the couch, preparing to sleep off her frustration. She managed to find a spare blanket stashed underneath the coffee table, but even with the added layer she still couldn’t get to sleep, finding herself staring at the ceiling wondering if she made the right decision moving here. That was until she was startled by a door opening. Lapis walked out wearing an ill fitting uniform that had a small logo stitched onto it.

“Dude, it’s like nine on a saturday. Are you really going to work now?” Amethyst exclaimed, sitting up to get a better view of Lapis.

“Yep. That’s how overnights work.” Lapis’ voice was unenthused as ever. She gave no leeway for a proper conversation to be made, allowing for silence to make its way in until Amethyst changed the subject.

“Hey, uh, Peridot’s not mad at me is she? She looked pretty scared before you guys left.” Amethyst exhibited a sheepish tone that Lapis had never seen before.

“Nah, she’s just shaken up is all. I think as soon as you and Pearl patch things up she’ll be fine.”

Amethyst gritted her teeth, she had come to liking Peridot. She wanted for once to not come off as a brute because Peridot was a dork in all the good ways, and selfishly, she still wanted to be allowed to play on her consoles. Though doing so meant having to suck up to Pearl, a tactic she rarely brought out. Before Amethyst could manage her thoughts, Lapis had already left out the door. Amethyst hoped that people leaving without saying goodbye wouldn’t become a habit.

The next morning, Amethyst was about to make herself some coffee with the fancy grounds that Pearl owned, but held off. She had her fill of fighting, and she didn’t want to provoke any more issues in the house that might further bother Peridot. She instead opted to sit on the couch and play video games in her weary haze until Pearl was awake. Looking at the time, Amethyst was up much earlier than she usually would have been, Which was due to her horrendous sleep schedule. What it meant was that she had time before Pearl would be awake, which Amethyst spent every second dreading. Luckily for her, Pearl didn’t sleep in on weekends, she believed in keeping to her schedule no matter what day it was, which Amethyst quickly learned when she heard a door open at precisely seven AM. Amethyst wasn’t even able to make out the thin woman’s footsteps with how light she made each step, she could only parse where she was in the kitchen by getting off the couch and seeing her.

“Hey P, do you think we could hold off on the whole fighting thing for a bit? I don’t really wanna deal with it anymore.” Amethyst spoke half truthfully. In reality she was mostly doing this for Peridot’s sake, but there was still a piece of her that didn’t want to be at arms at all times with someone who let her move in.

“Fine, as long as you behave yourself.” Pearl tutted, not even offering her full attention as she prepared coffee.

“All right, I’ll be on my best behaviour… until it’s more important to be on my worst behaviour.” Amethyst giggled. “Now, mind making me a cup as well?”

Even though Pearl rolled her eyes, she felt more at ease. She couldn’t help but lighten up at Amethyst’s laugh, giving her a soft smile as she poured the coffee and passed it over to the girl. Hearing the two girls voices not shouting at one another prompted Peridot to peek outside of her door, spotting that the two had settled their differences.

“Oh, Peridot! I didn’t know you were awake. Would you like some?” Pearl pulled out another mug from the cupboard, Peridot only managing to catch a glimpse of the vast collection of mugs that was stored within.

“No thank you. Caffeine addiction would be greatly disruptive to my tasks.” Pearl and Amethyst shared a glance at the words, then both looking down at their cups and laughing.

“I can’t argue with her, everything I do is disruptive in some way.” Amethyst shrugged before making her way back to taking large gulps of the beverage.

Peridot could feel the tension had been eased in the house. The two were still careful around each other, but if they kept fighting they’d both drain themselves at some point. Instead, they decided to keep to themselves, but making sure not to ignore one another.

“Uh, I was actually kinda hungry. Do you have any food here?” Peridot sheepishly folded her hands, shifting her vision to the floor as she inquired.

“Hmm, I suppose none of you have had much time to get groceries. How about we go out for brunch?” Pearl suggested with a clap of her hands.

“As long as you promise to never call it brunch again.” Amethyst chimed, provoking a small giggle from Peridot, who then quickly straightened herself out.

“That would be very beneficial, Pearl.”

“Great! Now, someone go wake up Lapis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The gangs all here and they're already fighting. I am gonna try my best to make the chapters longer, but I can't make any promises. Also narrative shift to Amethyst this chapter!!! Come to expect this often between our main quartet, which also means that the thoughts of our focal character are gonna show at least a little bit of bias. I won't lie, I'm quite happy with myself for trying so many new approaches to my writing, it's proven to be very enjoyable (and I hope that it's reflected in the work <3)


End file.
